This article originally appeared atwri.

业务的声音和政治参与对于实现美国雄心勃勃的减排目标至关重要。越来越多的私营部门参与者开始倡导联邦一级的气候政策，但在没有使他们的贸易协会与同一目标保持一致的情况下，他们的行动未能移动针头。

Trade associations are a main conduit of corporate political influence in the United States, and often wield this power to undermine and, in some cases, outright block or reverse climate legislation. When companies are members of associations that lobby against climate policy, these businesses become guilty by association.

为了避免相关的声誉和财政风险，公司应将努力集中在保持交往协会上，正如WRI首席执行官兼总统Ani Dasgupta强调的那样recent statement：“我们敦促所有公司重新检查其游说，政治支出和参与贸易协会，以确保其行动与他们关于气候变化的公开声明完全一致。”

How the oil and gas industry leverages trade associations

贸易协会影响力的最新例子来自埃克森美孚（Exxon Mobil）。6月下旬，该公司的顶级游说者之一revealedthat the oil and gas major intentionally and strategically uses its trade associations, including the American Petroleum Institute and The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to combat climate policy. This has included calculated and successful moves to strip funding for climate measures from the federal infrastructure bill, while voicing support for carbon pricing legislation precisely because they believed "it would never pass."

这是绿色的经典例子。埃克森美孚（Exxon）在倾泻资源以维持现状和传播气候虚假信息的同时，获得了支持气候行动的信誉。

最终，首席执行官必须加强。

今年早些时支持碳pricing or similar market mechanisms. Exxon is a member of each organization, which puts the associations’ new positions under a cloud of suspicion. If Exxon uses support for carbon pricing as an insincere green talking point to score points with the public, is it possible that its trade associations are being asked to amplify this strategy?

贸易协会会员资格使公司处于危险之中

Time will reveal the breadth of consequences Exxon will face, but the company has already undergone声誉伤害,an驱逐出境气候领导委员会, and will likelyfacecongressional hearings.

8月25日，游说者对公司气候战略的录音被引用简短的在明尼苏达州第8巡回上诉法院对埃克森美孚和其他化石燃料公司的诉讼中提起诉讼。对双重气候政策战略的调查仍在继续，通过雄心勃勃的联邦气候立法的压力正在制定。

同时，技术，银行和消费品等领域的公司也面临反弹，并增加了风险。这包括声誉风险，因为公司贸易协会对气候的行为受到了越来越多的审查politicians,investors和文明社会.

通过向挫败气候行动的组织捐款，公司成为这些活动的同谋。

通过向挫败气候行动的组织捐款，公司成为这些活动的同谋。They then face the possibility of boycotts, lawsuits and loss of investor support, as well as huge financial risks tied to the无所作为的成本on climate change.

The longer it takes to get the necessary climate policies in place, the higher global temperatures will rise and the more expensive it will be to deal with consequences such as ruined crops, disrupted supply chains and destruction of property from natural disasters.

风险管理 - 对齐贸易协会

公司的贸易协会应该为他们工作，而不是反对他们。2019年10月，WRI和我们的10个非政府组织合作伙伴introducedtheAAA Framework for Climate Policy Leadership指导公司达到新的政治参与标准。该框架的一个核心组成部分是将贸易协会的立场与基于科学的气候政策保持一致。

为了补充这个新框架，WRI最近发布了areport exploring the barriers to corporate climate policy engagement and, more important, strategies to overcome them.

Redirecting the priorities of large, multi-industry associations is no simple task, but here are six easy places to start:

• 1.审核：Have a trustworthy third party conduct an audit of your company’s trade association memberships to evaluate instances where trade association climate policy positions do not align with your company’s. Commit to a clear process of what steps you will take if misalignment is found.

Over the past two years, many oil and gas companies conducted internal audits of their membership in trade associations. But because these were not conducted by objective third parties, in all cases, there were a number of notable errors where misalignment was not determined objectively. If these audits are not conducted by objective third parties, this can be another form of greenwashing.

• 2.团队：找到，与其他公司成员合作，他们也有兴趣推动气候政策。

For several years, companies within the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have banded together to push chamber leadership to adopt more progressive positions on climate change. There is power in numbers, and this group of companies needs many more partners to be able to truly shift the chamber’s actions related to climate change.

• 3. Focus on influencers:Find out what motivates and/or worries other members with the most to lose — and use this knowledge to better engage.

无论是通过一对一的宣传还是鼓励您的贸易协会员工投资会员教育，重要的是要使重型污染行业的公司通过气候行动进行。

• 4.参与：在个人和委员会会议上与贸易协会人员交谈，并确保您的观点已知，即使您不确定自己会占上风。

近年来，许多贸易协会成立了新的气候委员会或工作队，以使其成员参与该主题，包括美国商会和商业圆桌会议。公司应与这些现有的机构互动，并推动成立不存在的新委员会。

• 5.与您的会费一起投票：对于大多数贸易协会，会费每年进行谈判。利用此过程，并利用您的钱发送消息。

Different companies may prefer different approaches based on how and when dues are paid. One example of a hybrid "carrot and stick" approach is to attach a set amount of money to a defined climate outcome. If the outcome is met, the money will be released to the trade association as "bonus" dues. If the outcome is unmet, the same amount will be deducted from the next cycle’s payments.

• 6.与您的游说者见面：确保代表您公司的任何组织或个人游说都支持并促进您的气候政策立场。

职业游说者并不总是忠于他们当前的雇主，而是他们可能会感到忠于现状他们的同龄人关注未来的职业机会。确保每个为公司讲话的人都与气候行动保持一致。

As Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island)noted recently，“尽管C-Suite在美国公司的公司支持很大，但没有一个贸易协会认真对待这一点。没有人倾向于推动强烈的气候立法，甚至没有碳定价。”

最终，首席执行官必须加强。公司不应该冒险犯有气候无所作为的风险。他们必须使自己的贸易协会保持一致。